Brush for cleaning perforated casing



Sept. 22, 1942. Q G|B5QN BRUSH FOR CLEANING PERFORATED CASING Filed Jul 15, 1940 14/5 vr0 e 64/746 675- 30 7 77).

Patented Sept. 22, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BRUSH FOR CLEANING PERFORATED CASING Clair .1. Gibson, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application July 15, 1940, Serial No. 345,592

9 Claims.

My invention relates generally to brushes and more particularly to a brush that is designed for use in cleaning the perforations and slots in the perforated linings used in oil wells, for cleaning the inner surfaces of well casings and linings, and for cleaning mud and other accumulations from the surface of the formation through which the well hole passes.

My present invention is an improvement on the construction of the brush disclosed in my copending application for U. S. Letters Patent filed November 20, 1939, Serial No. 305,288.

The principal objects of my present invention are, to generally improve upon and simplify the construction of the brush disclosed in my aforesaid copending patent application, as well as other existing forms of similar brushes, further, to provide for mounting the bristles of the brush and which bristles are formed of wire, upon supporting bodies that are associated to form an elongated rigid body, to provide simple and efficient means for maintaining the separate bristle carrying bodies in assembled relation, to provide resilient means above and below the assembled bristle carrying bodies so as to center and guide the brush in its movements through the well casings and liners and further, to provide a simple form of wire bristle that is mounted on its supporting body so as to be highly effective in performing its intended functions, namely, the brushing and scraping of the inner surfaces of oil well liners and casings and to enter and pass through the perforations or slots in the liner so as to effectively remove therefrom accumulations of sand, scale, chemical deposits and the like, in order to permit oil to flow more freely from the well and the formation surrounding the same into the liner and casing.

Further objects of my invention are, to provide a brush of the character referred to that is of strong, substantial construction, capable of being readily assembled or taken apart, to construct the brush from a series of substantially identical bristle carrying members that may be assembled so as to form brushes of any desirable and workable lengths and further, to construct a brush that, if desired, may be utilized in connection with a conventional oil well packer,

With the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts that will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is a vertical section taken through the center of a brush constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged horizontal section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged horizontal section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged horizontal section taken on the line 55 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is an elevational view of a modified form of resilient guide utilized at the lower end of the brush.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged horizontal section taken on the line 'I'I of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a detail section similar to Fig. 7 and showing a modified construction.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the cylindrical body that carries the wire bristles.

Fig. 10 is a plan view of one of the wire bristles.

Fig. 11 is an enlarged horizontal section taken on the line II--II of Fig. 1.

Fig. 12 is a sectional view similar to Fig, 11 and showing a modified form of the wire bristles.

Fig. 13 is a vertical section showing a conventional packer associated with the brush and said brush and packer positioned in a well hole.

Figs. 14, 15 and 16 are plan views of modified forms of the wire bristles used in the production of the brush.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawing which illustrates a preferred embodiment of my invention, I0 designates a rod which may be of any desired and convenient length and which serves as a carrier for the short cylindrical members or collars that carry the wire bristles of the brush and the upper end of this rod is screw seated in the lower portion of a coupling member II.

Screw seated in the upper portion of the coupling II is the lower end of a rod I2 that carries the upper one of the resilient guides for the brush and mounted on the upper end of this rod I2 is a conventional swivel socket I3 provided at its upper end with a threaded pin I4 whereby the brush may be detachably connected to the lower end of a drill string or the tools carried thereby.

The means for centering and guiding the upper portion of the brush during its travel through they well hole or casing comprises a plurality of bow-shaped members I5 of resilient metal, the end portion of which occupy vertically disposed grooves I6 that are formed on the inner surface of a collar IT. This collar is arranged for sliding movement on rod I2 below the socket I3 and said collar is held against rotary movement on the rod by means of a key I8 that is seated in said rod and which occupies a slot in the collar,

The upper ends of the members I5 are bent outwardly as designated by I9 so as to overlie the upper edge of collar I1, and to secure said members I5 to the collar, pins 20 are seated in the collar and project into apertures that are formed in those portions of the members that occupy the grooves 16 (see Fig. 2).

The lower ends of members I5 are connected to a collar -2l that is identical with collar l1 and which is mounted for sliding movement on the lower portion of rod l2 and held against rotary movement on said rod .by a key 22 that is identical with key l8.

To prevent vaccidental disconnection between the ends of the rods in and i2 with coupling ll, conventional set screws 23 are seated in coupling II and engage those portions of the rods that are screw seated in said coupling.

The resilient guiding members I5 are preferably formed from flat resilient metal straps and the intermediate outer portion thereof are adapted to engage with 'rubbingcontactthe in- "n'r surfaces "of the well casing liners or the formation surrounding "the well hole.

The'lowe'r'end of rod -Illterminates in an axial stem 24, the diametero'f which is somewhat smaller'than'said'rod and that portion'of'the rod 'iininediatelyabove "said stem is threade'd'as designated by 25 for the reception of the internally 'thr'e'aded'upper portionof a shorttubular member 26 and to look this memberon'the rod a set screw '2! is seated in the 'up'per'portion of the tubular member and clamps'the threaded'por- 'tion 250f rod [0. The lower 'portion'of'tubular member 26 orftliat portion below the portion that engages'the'thread25"enclosesstem 24 and "formed 'in'thisportion ofthe'tubul'ar member and communicatin with 'the opening therethrough are "vertically "disposed grooves 2 8.

Occupying'grooves 2'8 'a'reth'e shanks 29'of the resilient guides that are carried by the lower 'ie'ndbf the brush, said guides'b'eing preferably form'e'd from heavy resilient wire "and those ortions of "the wire bel'0w"th'e straight shanks 29 arebent outwardly'to formsubstantially circular portions 30 that are adapted to yieldingly engage 'the 'innerfaces of the well liner or casing.

"I'heuppr'nds 6f the straight portions '29 of these resilientg'uides are bent outwardly at right "angles to fo'r'rn short horizontally disposed fingrs 3| that project "through horizontally dis- "fl' o'sed "apertures 32 formed through the inter-- 'mediate'pornon of't'he wall oftublilar member 26 (see Figs. 1,4 ends) The construction just described enables the 3 11151581 portions "(if the l'e'silie'ht "gllidih'g members 'to'beins'ertd in'the lower portion of the tubular member z'send'when'the latter is screwed onto casing'the contacting'facesof the members 30' *will scrape and cut away any accumulations that may have formed on-the inner faceof the liner or casing. V

Removably positioned on rod H1 and clamped thereon betwe'encollar 'l I --and tubular member 26'is a seriesofsho-rt tubular members 33 that carry the wire bristles of the brush. Depending from theunder side of the body of each-mem- 'ber 33 around theopening therein isa' con'centric rib 34 and for the accommodation of these ribs when the members 33 are positioned on shaft II], the upper end of each member 33 is provided around the opening through said body with a concentricgroove 35. s

Formed in the wall of the bristle carrying member 33 and extending from the top downwardly to a point near the lower end are vertically disposed slots 36, preferably spaced equal distances apart.

In Fig. 9 which illustrates one of the bristle carrying bodies, the same is shown as being provided with six slots 36, but this number may be increased or decreased as desired.

The preferred form of the wire bristles used in-the brush is illustrated in Fig. 10, each bristle being formed from a-singlepiece'ofresilientwire, such for instance "as used -in pianos, and the centralportion of the-section of wire *f'orming'each bristle is bent to form an open loop portion 3*! from 'which project straight diver'ging bristle portions 38. o

Where the bristles are formed for use in connection with bristle carrying bodies such as 33 and provided 'withsix slots 36, the'straight portions 38 of each bristle'are disposed'substantially sixty degreesapa'rt.

The bristles are 'pre formed so as to conform with the slot arrangement in the bodies '33 ='and also'to conformwith"thediam'eter of rod 10. The bristles are assembl'ed'onthebody so that the curved central portion '3'! of each bristle fits snugly within theopening throughbody 33 and 'withthe straight portions 38 'p'roj ecti'n'g outwardly throughthe'adjacent'members of apair-ofthe slots 36. Thus the curved central portions *3! "of 'the bristles are in superimposed; relation and said "bristles are arranged so that *an equal number of the straight portions "38 project "outwardly through each slot 36, thus "providing'a uniform "orbalanced arrangement of the effective portions o f'the bristles.

In Fig. "11 I have illustrated -the'ou-ter ends of the straight portions of the bristles passing through the slots or openings of a conventional perforated liner "and which effect is attained 'while the "brush'is inservice.

In Fig. '12 I have illustrated a'bru'sh having hairpin-shapedbristles 39 and where such constru'ctio'n is employed, the slots th'atare'formed in "the bristle "carrying bodies 'must "necessarily 'beforme'd tangent to the "surface of *the opening through the body.

Figs. 14, 15, and 16 show further modified forms of the wire'bristles and for the'accom- 'mo'dation thereof, "theslo'ts inthe bristle-carrying bodies fmust be correspondinglyarranged. In 'all cases the 'bristle's are pre formed and their curvedcentral portions"areshape'd'soas to fit the rod "l0 that passes throu'ghth'e entire'series-of 'bris-tle carryingbodies.

'When thetubula'r bodies l3 are packed -with bristles and assembled on-the rod T0, they are clamped thereon by the coupling '-l'lth'at' is screw seated on the-upper end of'the ro'd and b-y'the tubular member 26 that is screw seated on the -lower-en'd of the'rod and thu-s the entire brush body -'comprising the rod and br-istle carrying members clamp thereof isin effect a one piece structure. 7 V

In theiise of my improved-brush, the same after being lowered into-the 'well is rec'i'procated and when used for cleaning the slots'or-openings in perforated linersthe outer end portions 'of the bristles will as the brush is rec iproc'ated enter,

pass through, and then withdraw from the slots or openings so as to ffectively remove all accumulations from said slots and as the bristles move lengthwise within the lining they will flex first in one direction and then in the other so as to scrape and clean those portions of the inner face of the liner between the slots or openings therein.

In a similar manner the brush is reciprocated within casing so that the outer ends of the resilient straight portions 38 of the bristles will engage and brush all accumulations from the surface or surfaces with which the bristles contact.

Where my improved brush is used in connection with a packer, the latter is detachably connected to the lower end of the brush, after which the parts are lowered into the well, and said parts are now reciprocated so as to brush and clean the inner surface of the casing. The parts are now elevated until the packer is brought into position within the brushed and cleaned surface of the casing and after the packer has been expanded and set, the drill string is manipulated so as to detach the lower end of the brush from the upper end of the packer.

In some instances, my improved brush may be located on the lower part of a gas anchor and as the occasion demands, the combined parts reciprocated so that the brush will pass through and clean th perforations in the surrounding liner.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a perforated casing clean brush that is relatively simple in construction, inexpensive of manufacture, and very effective in performing the functions for which it is intended.

It will be understood that minor changes in the size, form and construction of the various parts of my improved brush for cleaning perforated casing, may be made and substituted for those herein shown and described, without departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a brush for cleaning perforated lining, casing, and the like, a rod, a series of tubular members mounted; on said rod, said tubular members being provided with longitudinally disposed slots and wire bristles having portions encircling said rod and other portions that extend outwardly through the slots in said tubular members.

2. A brush for cleaning perforated lining, casing, and the like, as set forth in claim 1 and with means for clamping said tubular members on said rod.

3. A brush for cleaning perforated lining, casing, and the like, as set forth in claim 1 and with a resilient guiding and centering member on the lower portion of said rod.

l. A brush for cleaning perforated lining, casing, and the like, as set forth in claim 1 and with a resilient guiding and centering member on the upper portion of said rod.

5. In a brush for cleaning perforated lining, casing, and the like, a tubular member provided with a plurality of longitudinally disposed slots, a plurality of bristles formed of resilient wire and having curved portions positioned within said tubular member, with their end portions projecting outwardly through said slots, the curved central portions of which wires are staggered circumferentially so that the end portions of said wires that project through said slots are spaced apart longitudinally of the brush, thereby forming a plurality of longitudinally disposed rows of spaced bristles and a member extending lengthwise through said tubular member and through the curved portions of said bristles for maintaining said tubular member and bristles in assembled relation.

6. In a brush for cleaning perforated lining, casing, tubes, and the like, a core, a plurality of wire bristles, each having a curved central portion that partially encircles said core, those portions of the bristles beyond the curved central portion extending outwardly from the core, a tube surrounding said core and the curved central portions of said bristles, which tube is provided with longitudinally disposed slots through which the outwardly extending end portions of the bristles project to form longitudinally disposed single rows of bristles on the exterior of said tube and the curved central portions of said bristles being disposed with respect to each other so that the straight end portions of said bristles that project through the slots in said tube are spaced apart longitudinally of the brush.

'7. In a brush for cleaning perforated lining, casing, and the like, a series of superimposed tubular members, each provided with a plurality of slots, a plurality of resilient wire bristles carried by each tubular member, the intermediate portion of each bristle being curved and arranged. within one of said tubular members, with the end portions of each bristle projecting through certain of the slots in said tubular member to from single rows of bristles on the exterior of said tubes, the bristles in each row being spaced apart longitudinally of the brush and means passing through the entire series of tubular members and through the curved intermediate portions of said bristles for maintaining the same in assembled relation.

8. In a brush for cleaning perforated liners, casing, and the like, a core, a tube surrounding said core and provided with a plurality of longitudinally disposed slots, bristles having preformed intermediate portions of definite arcuate form which conform to the cross sectional shape of the core and substantially straight end portions that project in single rows through the slots in said tube and said bristles being arranged so that the straight end portions which project through the slots in the tube are spaced apart longitudinally of th brush.

9. In a brush for cleaning perforated liners, casing, and the like, a tubular member provided with a plurality of longitudinally disposed slots and a plurality of wire bristles mounted upon said tubular member and disposed in superimposed arrangement, each bristle having a curved intermediate portion that conforms to the inner periphery of the tubular member, each bristle having substantially straight end portions that project through the slots in the tubular member to form longitudinally disposed rows of single bristles, the curved intermediate portions of said bristles being disposed with respect to each other so that the straight projecting end portions thereof are spaced apart longitudinally of the brush and a member disposed axially within the tube and extending through the curved intermediate portions of said bristles.

CLAIR J. GIBSON. 

